Property Information

The Permits & Inspections Department can help you with the following property information.

Address Changes

You may apply to change the address of your property. Complete the application form and submit it to the Permits Department by email, mail or in person. If your request is approved, a fee of $1,300.00 plus GST will be charged. Once complete, the District will notify all departments and agencies affected by the change, including emergency services.


Order Building Plans

The District has scanned all historic building permit plans on file for West Vancouver properties into digital format. Some records date back to the 1950s.

Homeowners are now able to order digital copies of the house plans on file for their property. These plans will be sent via email through a secure file sharing link for $120.00 plus GST.

Please complete the online form to request plans for your property. Completed forms can be submitted by email to [email protected]. Please note that the processing time for this request is five working days.


Utilities Corridors

Many stormwater and sewer pipe blockages in the municipality are the results of trees or landscaping planted on top of underground pipes in a utility corridor, right-of-way, or boulevard.

Find out more about utility corridors and how they relate to your property.


Property Search Comfort Letter

You can request information on any property in the District of West Vancouver from the Permits and Inspections Department. This is known as a Comfort Letter and will provide any details available on permits issued, date of occupancy, outstanding work orders, zoning information and Board of Variance applications.

A Comfort Letter does not include copies of records or house plans.

Please submit your request for a Comfort Letter, along with the Registered Owner’s Authorization form, to the email: [email protected]

Driveways & Parking

Each lot is permitted only one driveway access. If you wish to change the location of the driveway, you will need to submit a plan to Land Development complete with dimensions and grading. Any driveway must comply with the Driveway Grading Criteria, the Boulevard Bylaw, and the Zoning Bylaw.

Driveway access is permitted to be 4.5m wide off a roadway. We permit 6.5m off a lane.

Changes to Driveways, Walkways & Boulevards

Rights of Way

A utilities corridor or right of way is a strip of land adjacent to a residential property that protects buried underground services such as water, sewer and storm drains. The ownership of the land may lie with the property owner, but there are rules about how the land can be used.

The District has the right to enter the right of way at any time to perform work on the underground utility services. From time to time, District staff or a contractor working on behalf of the District will make routine inspections of the rights of way to maintain the infrastructure within the right of way.

Although it may be tempting to landscape or build over these strips of land, doing so leads to expensive problems:

  • if you have landscaped or built structures to “improve” a utilities right of way, be aware that any future municipal service work will likely damage your improvements and that you will not be reimbursed for your expenses
  • landscaping on utility corridors can also directly cause damage to the underground pipes carrying water, sewer or stormwater
  • pipes damaged by roots of trees, bushes or other landscaping are repaired or replaced using tax dollars, which costs us all money

Before making decisions about landscaping, make sure you know your property details and the location of underground utilities.

A Statutory Right of Way (SRW) is accompanied by a plan and/or a written description of the right of way area, and is registered at the New Westminster Land Title Office. The SRW does not reduce the size of the owner’s property but does place specific limitations on how a landowner can make use of the land covered by the SRW agreement. The SRW is binding on all existing and future owners of the property.

Prior to any work being undertaken on a District SRW, Engineering and Land Development must be notified.

Email

Frequently Asked Questions